Green Mountain Hooked Rugs in Montpelier offers classes several times a year but they have one big school event that takes place every summer. The school was founded in 1981 by the mother of the current owner and classes have been offered every year since then.

This year's 27th Annual Hooked Rug School will be held June 6–15, 2008. There will be one five-day and two weekend sessions with a total of 23 classes. Class size is limited to about a dozen students so now is the time to look over the course outline and decide whether to attend.

It is not unusual for Vermont to have a January thaw but the one we're working our way through now seems much warmer than normal.

Today's high was around 50 degrees F (10 Celsius) and tomorrow's forecast is a few degrees higher. It will cool down to day time highs in the low 30's F by the end of this week but we are going to have several days of light rain, sleet, and a little snow for the next few days. The ski report we just received from Jay Peak describes the conditions as "spring like."

All the ski areas especially in northern Vermont have so much base built up that the conditions won't be terrible but if you have been reading how great the skiing has been in Vermont, don't expect those conditions to exist now.

The skiing this week won't be terrible but it won't be great either. By Saturday, conditions should be back to normal. Keep an eye on the weather forecasts.

You can use the standard Google Results Page to check the "real-time" (as opposed to fake time, I guess) status of any flight. Just type the name of the airline and flight number (e.g. Jet Blue 123, aa456) into the Google search box. The most up to date information from FlightStats.com will be displayed.

Better yet, get a free subscription to Flight Stats on their web site. There is an enormous amount of information available including airport flight delays, security wait times, and other important pieces of information all air travelers need these days.

Google has a long list of "Subscribed Links" such as this. They include Gas Buddy for the best local gas prices, Weather Channel, Calorie Lab for nutritional information, City/Town Info for information about cities you are visiting, and more.

Today I received a snow report email from Jay Peak with the photo above and very little text. The photo nearly says it all so there's little need for much text.

Without a doubt, Jay is the King Kong of snowfall in the eastern United States. So far this ski season, they have had 200 inches of snow. It looks like this year will exceed their annual average of 350 inches of snow.

Several characteristics contribute to this. Jay is located in far northern Vermont , just a few miles from the Canadian border. It is at the far northern reach of the Green Mountain range which creates a "snow belt" that catches moisture soaked clouds. These clouds pick up their moisture from nearby Lake Champlain or the Great Lakes farther to the west. When they hit the upper elevations, they release the moisture in greater quantity than lower elevations.

The weather forecast for Vermont this coming weekend looks ideal for skiing and other outdoor activities. Friday's high should be around 30 degrees F (about -1 C). Saturday and Sunday will both be in the mid to high 30's.

We have a ton of snow on the ground so downhill and cross country skiing, dog sledding, sleigh rides, sledding, snow shoeing, will be great. For more detail, you can click on the Weather Channel link here or in the right column of this blog.

The week between Christmas and New Year's is one of the busiest of the year here. With all the snow we have had already this year, the out-of-state skiers are fired up about getting their season off to a good start with several days off from work and plenty of snow on all the Vermont ski trails.

Right now is a good time to plan ahead and get dinner reservations in order to beat the crowd and avoid long waits or having to call around to even find a restaurant with an opening. Naturally, it's easier to find an opening early or late evening, so you may have to be flexible in your plans.

Call or email your innkeeper or look online to find restaurants. Any good innkeeper will be able to tell you the best restaurants in the area that will fit your needs. Or, if you like to do some shopping for restaurants on your own, do a online search for the regional chamber of commerce website for the area in which you will be staying.